Rivers starts fantasy playoffs right

Philip Rivers’ reemergence couldn’t have come at a better time now that your fantasy playoffs are officially underway.

The real test as to whether he is breaking out of his season-long funk will come against Baltimore. But that breakdown is for Friday’s blog.

The bottom-line is, his performance on Sunday against the Bills and last Monday against the Jaguars resulted in the kind of production Rivers’ owners expected all season long.

For the second week in a row, he threw three touchdown passes and was not intercepted. It was also the first time he’s done that in back-to-back games in his career. Rivers finished the day completing 24 of his 33 passes for 240 yards, and he played his third game in a row without throwing an interception.

The offensive line played well, and as a result Rivers again had time to throw and Ryan Mathews had room to run for much of the day. Mathews posted his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game and appears to be becoming the player the Chargers envisioned when they drafted him 12th overall in 2010. He rushed 20 times for 114 yards and caught six passes for 34 yards.

Mike Tolbert – “The Vulture,” as Mathews calls him -- continues to get touches in the red zone and scored his eighth touchdown of the season. But he rushed just six times (three attempts were inside the 20) for 21 yards and didn’t catch a pass for the second week in a row. As I’ve said, Mathews is clearly emerging as the more “featured” back of the two. Tolbert may get opportunities in the red zone, but he doesn’t get the touches or the yards to make him anything better than a flex play.

However, if the Chargers move the ball well against Baltimore this Sunday -- and that’s a big if – Tolbert will definitely be the guy in the red zone against the Ravens’ second ranked run defense.

Antonio Gates had his first two-touchdowngame of the season and has now scored in five of the eight games he has played in since his return from his foot injury. Furthermore, he was tied with Vincent Jackson in targets (nine) and led the team in receptions (seven) and receiving yards (68). Gates is healthy, he’s getting open, and he should have another productive game this weekend.

I don’t want to say Jackson no-showed again, because he did catch five passes for 55 yards. Obviously not great numbers, but it was more because the Bills left Gates in man coverage and Mathews had room to run than Jackson disappearing. The Chargers were also up by 20 points heading into the fourth quarter, and that didn’t help any of the receivers’ fantasy numbers.

Malcom Floyd had just two receptions for 29 yards. He also caught his first pass of the season that didn’t go for a first down. Surprisingly, he was only targeted twice, but again, the Chargers were running the ball well, and Rivers attempted just four passes in the fourth quarter—three to Mathews and one to Patrick Crayton that went for a touchdown.

The defense definitely had its most productive game of the season. The Bills had 281 yards of total offense, but the Chargers had three interceptions—one of which was returned for a touchdown—and a sack. If you took a chance and started the Chargers defense, consider it a one-and-done performance because that almost certainly won’t happen against the Ravens.

Nick Novak kicked his 10th field goal of the season from 40 yards or longer. No other Charger in team history has kicked more than 10, and he’ll likely become the first to do so against Baltimore. The two consecutive blowouts and the pick-six against the Bills hurt his chances, but he is still a safe bet for this weekend’s game.